Dispensing device



Apnl 1943' A. HAMMERSTEIN' DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Aug. '29, 1940INVENTOR.

14 TTOR/VL Y Patented Apr. 13, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT oar-10E2,316,516 DISPENSING DEVICE Arthur Hammerstein, Great Neck, N. Y.Application August 29, 1940, Serial No. 354,660 2 Claims. (Cl. 221-62)The invention relates to dispensing devices and more particularly todevices for dispensing comminuted materials such as sugar, salt, pepper,and the like, from containers, and has for its object to provide a noveldevice whereby the comminuted contents may be dispensed in an accuratelycontrolled manner and with maximum efiiciency. The inventioncontemplates the provision of a novel dispensing device whichconstitutes a closure for the container with which it is combined andwhereby the contents of said container normally are hermetically sealedagainst the effects of atmospheric changes. A further object of theinvention is to provide a novel dispensing device which in operation.develops crushing or expelling forces on the comminuted materialwhereby dispensing of said material is facilitated and clogging of thedispensing opening tending to interfere with and destroy the hermeticsealing action of the device is avoided. Other objects will appear fromthe description hereinafter and the features of novelty will be pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates examples of the inventionwithout defining its limits, Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing thenovel dispensing device in operation; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation ofa container equipped with the novel dispensing device; Fig. -3 is anenlarged sectional view of the dispensing device on the line 3-3 of Fig.2; Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is anexternal elevation of the novel dispensing device; Fig. 6 is a detailview illustrating the dispensing device in operation, and Fig. 7 is adetail view, partly in section, showing another form of the noveldispensing device.

The novel dispensing device, in all of its forms is in the nature of aresilient. hollow .cap generally constructed in a manner to provide thedesired resiliency as by being made of an inherently resilient materialsuch as rubber, said cap being arranged for attachment to a suitablecontainer for the comminuted material to be dispensed.

As shown in the drawing, the device comprises a hollow body in havingits upper end closed and provided with an annular bevel H and a slopingsection 12 extending upwardly and inwardly as illustrated in Figs. 3 and5. The section I2 is provided at an intermediate point with a slit l3which is normally closed with its opposed surfaces in engagement witheach other and in the operation of the device is converted into adischarge opening as will appear more fully hereinafter; in thepreferred arrangement the slit it! extends through the section l2 in adirection to locate the opposite surfaces of said slit l3 in bevelledrelation to said section l2 and substantially parallel to the major axisof the body ID as shown in Fig. 3. In the illustrated examples thesection i2 is formed with a raised annular bead H which surrounds andencloses the slit l3 as illustrated. in Figs. 2,. 6 and 7, and serves toprevent the letter from being torn in the operation of the device; ifthis protection is not required the bead M may be omitted. Atdiametrically opposite points the body I0 is provided with fiat pressuresurfaces or sections l5 which converge upwardly toward each other asshown in Fig. 4, and are each preferably of upwardly flaring ordiverging form as illustrated in Fig. 5. In the preferred constructionwhenthe device is made of rubber or other resilient material, the bodyIt) is transversely thicker or heavier in registry with the pressuresurfaces or sections l5 than it is at points between the same asindicated at a and b in Figs. 4 and 3 respectively. With thisarrangement the body Id at the pressure surfaces or sections 15 is ofmaximum efiiciency in operation as will appear more fully hereinafter,and at points between said surfaces or sections I5 is of relativelygreater flexibility.

In practice the novel dispensing device is de- Signed forcombinationwith a container for the comminuted material, in a hammer to constitutea closure for the open end thereof and preferably so as to be readilyremoved from said container and replaced thereon at will. Any convenientmeans may be utilized for combining the device with the the receptaclewhich itself may be of any conventional type, although in order tosecure the most eflicient results it is preferred to construct thecispensing device and container as shown in Figs. 2 and 7.

In each of the illustrated examples the device is provided with anannular flange l6 located at the open end of the body It! and with asecond annular flange ll located on said body Ill in spaced parallelrelation to the flange I6 as shown in the drawing; the second flange I1is preferably curved in cross-section or otherwise shaped in acorresponding way.

In the arrangement of Fig. 2 the dispensing device is combined with a.container l8 which has its lower end closed by means of a removable capIS in screw-threaded connection with said container [8 as shown. At itsupper end the latter is provided with an inwardly directed annularflange To combine the dispensing device with the' end with the thumbempty container IS, the cap I! is removed and the dispensing device'isinserted through the resulting open end and lengthwise of the containeri8 and projected through the opening defined by the flange 20 at theopposite end of said container i8. At the point in this operation atwhich the flange i1 comes into contact with the inside surface of theflange 20, an outward push is exerted on the device sufllcient to forcethe flange I! out of the container i8 beyond said flange 20. This bringsthe flange l6 into engagement with the inside surface of the flange 20andat the same time causes the flange i"! to engage the outside surfaceof said flange 20 as shown in Fig. 2. Because of the somewhat greateraxial width of the flange 20, the portion 0 of the device is axiallystretched by the aforesaid operation and is placed under a tensionwhereby the flanges Hi and I! are flrmly drawn against the oppositesurfaces of the flange 20 to fix the dispensing device against relativerotation thereon. As a result of this developed tension in thebodyportion 6 the device is securely flxed in place on the container i8, andat the same time the co-operative action of the flanges l6, l1 and 20provide an absolutely airtight connection between the dispensing deviceand th container l8. As the slit i3 in its normal closed condition inwhich its opposed bevelled surfaces are in firm engagement with eachother also is air-tight the dispensing end of the container ishermetically sealed when the device is in place on said container i 8.The opposite end of the latter is correspondingly sealed by the cap I 9when the latter is in its operative position.

In the form shown in Fig. 7 the device is correspondingly combined withan internally threaded sleeve 2| arranged for threaded connection withthe externally threaded neck i8 with which the container i8 is provided;in this form the bottom end of the latter may be permanently closed bymeans of an integral bottom in the conventional manner. The sleeve 2| isprovided with an inwardly directed flange 2|] corresponding to thepreviously described flange 20 and likewise having an axial widthsomewhat in excess of the normal distance between the flanges i6 and iiof the dis-' pensing device. The latter is combined with the sleeve 2|by forcing the flange l1 through the opening thereof from the inside tobring the flanges i6 and i! into engagement respectively with the insideand outside surfaces of the flange 20 and to place the portion c underaxial tension in the same way as set forth hereinbefore to thereby flxthe device against relative rotation on said sleeve 2 To combine thedispensing device with the container i8 in the form under discussion,the sleeve 2| is screwed upon the threaded neck I8 to bring the flangeinto flrm engagement with the end face of said neck H! as illustrated inFig. 7. When thus combined with the container neck i8 the dispensingdevice also is securely fixed in place on the container l8 and positionshown in Fig. l,

.nately press upon the surfaces at the same time hermetically seals thesame as in the form flrst described.

The comminuted material may be introduced into the container l8 byremoving the cap i9 and without disturbing the dispensing device, whilein the form shown in Fig. 7 it is necessary to remove the dispensingdevice by unscrewing the sleeve 2| from the neck l8 to enable thecomminuted material to be introduced into the container I8 In use thecontainer i8 or i8 is grasped in the hand and tilted downwardly towardits dispensing and foreflnger in engagement withthe opposite pressingsurfaces or sections it as shown in Fig. 1. When the container i8 or i8occupies the inverted angular dispensing the interior normally slopingsurface of the sloping section I! occupies a substantially horizontalposition and constitutes a collecting surface for the comminutedcontents of the container I8 or l8. In other words, in this dispensingposition the comminuted material in the container body It and rest uponthe interior surface of the normally sloping section l2 in easyaccessibility to the slit l3 as will be apparent. when it is desired toexpel the comminuted material, pressure is exerted by the thumb andforefinger upon the opposite surfaces or sections l5 to force the sametoward each other. This pressing action of the thumb and forefinger ofthe device spreads the opposite bevelled surfaces of the slit i3 apartand converts said slit i3 into a discharge opening as illustrated inFig. 6. This permits the comminuted material to escape through the openslit i3 as shown at d in Fig. 1, this dispensing of the comminutedmaterial continuing as long as the pressure of the thumb and forefingerupon the surfaces or sections l5 continues. By manipulating the thumband forefinger in a manner to alteror sections i5 and to relieve saidsurfaces from such pressure, the comminuted material within the body IIIis subjected to an intermittent crushing or expelling force tending toexpel said comminuted material outwardlythrough the open slit l3; inthis way the amount of comminuted material whichisdispensed may beaccurrately controlled as to its amount. When the pressure of the thumband forefinger upon the surfaces or sections i5 is discontinued, theslit l3 automatically returns to its closed position. Because of thebevelled form of the opposed surfaces of said slit, any grains ofcomminuted material remaining in the slit i3 at the termination of thedispensing operation will automatically be forced from said slit l3 sothat a complete closing of the latter is at all times automaticallyattained. As a result of this arrangement the container is alwayshermetically sealed when not in use to thereby protect the comminutedcontents against any atmospheric changes which may take place so thatsaid contents are always in condition for easy dispensing. The device isaccordingly always of maximum efficiency in the dispensing of comminutedmaterial such as sugar, salt, and the like, regardless of theatmospheric conditions which may exist at the time. The relativelygreater thickness of the portion a of the device facilitates the cammingaction of said device in forcing the comminuted material outwardlythrough the open slit l3 while the relatively thinner portion b providesan inherent elasticity or resilience in said device which increases itsoperative efiiciency. The annular bead i4, which may be omitted if notrequired, serves to prevent the material in the sloping sec- |8 willpass into the interior of the tion l2 from being torn as a result of theforces developed when the normally closed slit- I3 is converted into adischarge opening.

The device is simple in construction and may be readily combined withthe container for which it is designed, it being understood that theform shown in Fig. '7 is utilized in the same way as described withrespect to the the drawing.

While the device is particularly effective for dispensing sugar, salt,pepper, and the like, it may be used with equal efficiency fordispensing other types of comminuted materials.

As previously stated herein it is preferred to construct the dispensingdevice of rubber or other inherently resilient material; it is to beunderstood however that this is not to be construed as precluding theuse of other materials in its construction in combination with means forproviding the desired resiliency.

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described may be madewithin the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. In a dispenser for comminuted materials, the combination of a rigidcontainer having an open end and adapted to contain a supply of thecomminutedmaterial to be dispensed therefrom, a dispensing deviceconnected with said container and projecting beyond the open end of saidcontainer to normally constitute a seal and closure for the open endthereof, said dispensing device other form shown in comprising a hollowresilient body in unobstructed interior communication with saidcontainer and freely accessible for compression beyond the open endthereof and having an interior flattened end surface, and a normallysloping section constituting part of said dispensing device andcomprising an interior sloping surface leading to said flattened endsurface and an approximately parallel outer sloping surface, saidsloping section having a normally closed slit extending transverselytherethrough from said outer sloping surface to said interior slopingsurface in substantial parallelism with the major axis of saiddispensing device, said interior sloping surface being substantiallyhorizo'ntal in an inverted angular dispensing position of said containerto provide a collecting surface for the comminuted contents thereof, andsaid slit being convertible into a substantially vertical dischargeopening in said angular dispensing position of said container, by inwardcompression of said resilient body to force the comminuted I materialagainst said interior flattened end surface and outward through saiddischarge open- 2. In a dispenser for comminuted materials, thecombination of a rigid container having an open end and adapted tocontain a supply of the comminuted material to be dispensed therefrom, adispensing device connected with said container and projecting beyondthe open end of said container to normally constitute a seal and closurefor the open end thereof, said dispensing device comprising a hollowresilient body in unobstructed interior communication with saidcontainer and freely accessible for compression beyond the open endthereof and having an interior flattened end surface, a normally slopingsection constituting part of said dispensing device and comprising aninterior sloping surface leading to said flattened end surface and anapproximately parallel outer sloping surface, said sloping sectionhaving a normally closed slitextending transversely therethrough fromsaid outer sloping surface to said interior sloping surface insubstantial parallelism with the major axis of said dispensing device,said interior sloping surface being substantially horizontalgin aninverted angular dispensing position of said container to provide acollecting surface for the comminuted contents thereof, and said slitbeing convertible into a substantially vertical discharge opening insaid angular dispensing position of said container, by inwardcompression of said resilient body to force the comminuted materialagainst said interior flattened end surface and outward through saiddischarge opening, and an annular raised bead on the outer slopingsurface of the sloping section enclosing said slit to prevent lengthwisetearing thereof as said body is compressed inwardly.

ARTHUR HAMMEESTEIN.

